Sadie Update

I'm emotionally spent. J and I are so afraid to leave Sadie alone that she is in doggie daycare at the vet just so someone can watch her. But we can't afford to spend $17 a day, five days a week, for the rest of her life. Also, the vet was very unclear about a few things. She was diagnosed as having her colon distended and bowels impacted. Wouldn't you want a doggie with that diagnosis to poop as much as possible? They gave us anti-diarrhea pills. After the last pill (yesterday) she only pooped once more. She hasn't pooped since. Plus, she has gained 13 pounds in four days. We haven't observed her peeing either. She was really dehydrated.

I just got a call from the vet. (I called to relay our concerns) Here is the response.

1) The 65 lbs noted when she was admitted was a guess of initial weight. Since she could not stand, they could not get her on the scale.

2)Second notes should be on discharge notes (they are on her side) that Sadie weighed 79 lbs.

3) When Sadie had her big diarrhea blow out while she was in the hospital, that unimpacted her. Her colon is completely cleaned out at this point. If the diarrhea has stopped, she probably need to build something up in her colon before she goes.

4) Asked her what may be causing the bleeding. Bleeding was guessed to be from a possible bacterial infection.

5) Kennel manager will bring Dr. Anderson a stool sample as soon as Sadie goes. They will feed her some I/D (intestinal diet) so maybe something will pass. Dr. will call me as soon as she can analyze a stool sample.

6) Bleeding should slowly improve. It won’t disappear all at once. She’s an older dog, so she’s not going to rebound as quickly as a young dog.

7)If bleeding gets worse, they will need to look into something like an ulcer or other internal issues that could cause bleeding.

8) As for leaving her at home, take it day by day.

9) Did not remark on the panting, but said she will have the kennel manager watch her and note if she is panting excessively, not eating, or there is a lot of blood in her stool. Will also check to make sure she is urinating.

We're so worried about our doggie.

2004-05-12 @ 9:19 a.m.
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